TY - JOUR
T1 - Technostress in a hostile world
T2 - older internet users before and during the COVID-19 pandemic
AU - Nimrod, Galit
N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by Ageing + Communication + Technologies (ACT), a research project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and housed at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. The author wishes to express her appreciation to Prof. Dov Shmotkin of Tel-Aviv University for his insightful suggestions concerning this study. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2022/1/1
Y1 - 2022/1/1
N2 - Objective: Older adults are largely ignored in studies of technostress (stress induced by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use). This study aimed at exploring individual and contextual antecedents to technostress among older ICT users. Methods: Online surveys with ICT users aged 60 years and above were conducted in 2016 (N = 537) and during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 (N = 407), examining technostress level, internet use patterns and sociodemographic background. The 2020 survey also assessed a COVID-19-related Hostile World Scenario (HWS). Results: The two samples had very similar background characteristics, but participants in 2020 were more experienced and their internet use was significantly more diverse and intense than that of their predecessors. The factors predicting technostress in both samples were poorer health, fewer years of use, fewer hours of use per typical week and smaller use repertoire. The technostress level in 2020 was significantly higher than that of 2016—a finding explained by the COVID-19-related HWS. Conclusions: Individual antecedents hardly vary in the presence of significant contextual antecedents, but HWS may leave users with fewer resources to cope with the negative effects of technology use. Future research should explore additional contextual factors and interventions that may alleviate technostress among seniors.
AB - Objective: Older adults are largely ignored in studies of technostress (stress induced by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use). This study aimed at exploring individual and contextual antecedents to technostress among older ICT users. Methods: Online surveys with ICT users aged 60 years and above were conducted in 2016 (N = 537) and during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 (N = 407), examining technostress level, internet use patterns and sociodemographic background. The 2020 survey also assessed a COVID-19-related Hostile World Scenario (HWS). Results: The two samples had very similar background characteristics, but participants in 2020 were more experienced and their internet use was significantly more diverse and intense than that of their predecessors. The factors predicting technostress in both samples were poorer health, fewer years of use, fewer hours of use per typical week and smaller use repertoire. The technostress level in 2020 was significantly higher than that of 2016—a finding explained by the COVID-19-related HWS. Conclusions: Individual antecedents hardly vary in the presence of significant contextual antecedents, but HWS may leave users with fewer resources to cope with the negative effects of technology use. Future research should explore additional contextual factors and interventions that may alleviate technostress among seniors.
KW - COVID-19
KW - internet
KW - old age
KW - technology
KW - wellbeing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85097757120&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2020.1861213
DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2020.1861213
M3 - Article
C2 - 33334143
SN - 1360-7863
VL - 26
SP - 526
EP - 533
JO - Aging and Mental Health
JF - Aging and Mental Health
IS - 3
ER -
